Statkraft saving energy

The Aura power plant at Sunndalsøra is one of the first power plants where Statkraft has implemented new energy-saving methods. The result is simply lower power consumption.

The head of the plants in Møre og Romsdal County, Arild Magne Gjerdevik, says that these are part of a series of long-term measures to supply more green energy.

“Earlier, we have worked hard to modernise and renovate the power stations themselves and improve turbines and technical equipment in the power stations. Here at Aura, we have spent NOK 500 million to modernise the entire plant over the last few years. During the next round, we focused on buildings and equipment other than the power station equipment itself, and now, we are focusing on minimising power consumption in our own plants, this is where we are now,” says Gjerdevik.

From October to January alone, Aura has saved electricity equalling the consumption of 50 households, and Gjerdevik is very pleased with the results.

Simple measures

Arild Magne Gjerdevik says that simple measures such as saving electricity in connection with heating, lighting and ventilation through monitoring of the control system will result in only spending the absolutely necessary electricity. The entire project has a budget limit of NOK 87 million, and in the period leading up to 2015, 93 Statkraft power plants, including operations buildings, warehouses, workshops, etc., will go through a detailed process aiming to prevent unnecessary use of energy in all our buildings and plants.

Great responsibility

Gjerdevik believes that Statkraft has a great responsibility when it comes to saving electricity. “We have an obligation not to waste electricity, and we are also concerned with achieving the EU’s goal of cutting 20 per cent by 2020. This project will probably end up saving 35 per cent of our energy consumption, a figure we are very pleased with,” says Gjerdevik.